Bitten
by RandomRyu
Summary: It's all a big misunderstanding. A big, embarrassing misunderstanding. / RonxCarl
1. Chapter 1

Carl didn't want to go. He felt so safe here, cradled in Ron's arms being kissed all over. But all things had to come to an end, and Carl had to go home.

"I gotta go." Carl pressed a quick kiss to Ron's lips before pulling away and untangling himself from the other boy. Getting to his feet, he brushed himself off and ran his fingers through his hair, not wanting to look like a total mess when he got home.

"Aww, come on. You can't stay just a little bit more?" Ron whined, joining Carl in standing up; hugging him from behind and kissing him on the neck lightly, which made Carl giggle.

"My dad will freak out, you know that." The brunette squeezed Ron's hand before making his way to the bedroom door. "Walk me out?"

Both boys made their way as silently as they could down the stairs, silently cursing at every little squeak that came from a miscalculated step. At the front door, they exchanged another longer kiss before Carl slipped through the door and onto the streets of Alexandria.

It wasn't a long walk from Ron's house to his own, and before he knew it he was inside his own house and face to face with his father, still awake and worried.

"Carl, where were you?" Rick asked, placing his hands on the sides of the boy's face.

Carl shook his head to try and get them away. "At a friend's house, dad. We just lost track of time, I'm sorry."

Rick looked at Carl with narrowed eyes for a moment before letting him go.

"Alright. Just try to be home before dark next time, okay?"

"Okay."

With that, both of them went to bed; Rick checking up on Judith before he lay down himself.

The next morning, everyone rose bright and early like they did every other day. Carl and Rick met at the dinner table along with Michonne who had stayed the night, holding Judith and giving her her morning formula. Again, they all had cereal.

While Rick was pouring Carl's cereal, Michonne gave him a skeptical look.

"Carl?" She got his attention.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay? Did you leave the walls at all last night?" She narrowed her eyes.

"No, I didn't. Why?" He was confused instantly. He wouldn't leave the walls alone. He would at least be with Enid or Ron if he was even thinking about leaving the walls without his parent's consent.

Rick then realized why Michonne was asking these questions.

"Carl, were you bit?!" He almost dropped the milk as he quickly put it on the counter; running over the Carl and putting his hands on the boy's neck. "Carl?!"

Carl instantly turned beet red.

"Dad! I'm not-" He cut himself off. He didn't know how to explain himself without making things worse and giving away his and Ron's relationship. So, he just shut up and let them believe that he was bitten.

Michonne almost dropped Judith when Rick finally brought it up.

"We have to get you to medical, come on, Carl!" He took Carl's hand, weary of his presence, pulling him out of the door to medical. He didn't even give the boy time to get properly dressed, still in an undershirt and pajama pants with no shoes.

The gravel hurt under his feet and he kept trying to get his dad's attention as he was pulled over to the medical building. Anyone out on the streets this early in the morning looked at the duo confused.

"Denise?" Rick tried not to be too loud this early in the morning, not wanting to wake up any of her other patients. "Denise?"

"Right here, Rick. What's the problem?" She ran into the room, out of breath. "I was just with another patient, sorry." She put down a few instruments she was using, pulling off a pair of gloves. "What's the problem?"

"Carl." Rick motioned to the boy. "I think he was bit."

Carl just stood there, blushing like a madman, unable to explain himself.

"Oh, geez." She perked up, running over and looking him all over. "Where?"

"The neck."

She narrowed her eyes as she looked over his neck, examining the bruises and bite marks over the sensitive flesh. Carl flinched as she poked and prodded at him with her fingers.

"Didn't break the skin." She whispered to herself, making an observation. "Do you feel like you have a fever?"

"N-No-"

"You're warm." She cut him off, suddenly having a spike of anxiety. "The most I can do is keep him here and watch him. If you think he was really bit, we can't have him walking around among everyone else."

"Keep him here. Watch him. Please." Rick looked like he was going to cry, giving Carl a quick hug. "I'll be back to check on you, I promise. Denise, please take care of him. Get my attention if anything… anything goes wrong."

Denise just nodded in response, and even though he didn't want to, he left the infirmary, leaving Carl and Denise all alone.

In a span of minutes, Carl was laying down in a bed in his own room, staring up at the ceiling and wondering why he was even here in the first place. Why didn't his dad know what a hickey was? Why couldn't he understand that if he was bitten, he would be in much worse of a state?

For now, he had to stay in bed and take what was happening to him.

"Did you hear what happened to Carl?" Carol brought up when her and Daryl were hanging out.

"What? Is he okay?" Daryl asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Oh, he's perfectly fine." She laughed. "Rick and Michonne think he's been bitten."

"Holy shit, was he?"

"No, no." She just laughed harder. "Seems like he has a little boyfriend and they got a little… you know." She elbowed Daryl lightly in the ribs.

Daryl gave her a confused look, the gears turning in his head before...he got it.

"Oh."

"Yep." She nodded.

"Should we tell them…?"

"No, no. God, no. Just let them figure out on their own. It's better that way."


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't long before Ron's mom freaked out and brought him to medical as well.

When Carl saw him being pulled in by Jessie, his mother, he couldn't help but let out a loud sigh. And when the two boys locked eyes, they knew exactly how the other felt in this moment.

"My son, he's been bitten, I think he's been bitten!" Jessie sounded out of breath, holding her son tightly by the shoulders and constantly touching his neck. "Please, help him!"

Denise seemed a little skeptical that all this was happening at once, with both of the boys- but she put that thought to the side. What if they were actually bitten? She couldn't rule that fact out just because she thought of something a little embarrassing.

It went the same way with Ron as it did with Carl. Denise looked him over, reassured his mom that everything would be taken care of, and put him in a bed- right next to Carl. In the same room. With the door closed.

Now that both of them were side by side, alone in a room together, they didn't know who should speak first.

"So." Ron coughed.

"I can't believe this is happening."

"Me too." Ron sighed. "I mean, we could just tell them-"

"But what would my dad say?" Carl cut him off. "What if he doesn't approve?" Carl suddenly got a spike of anxiety.

"But they think we're _bitten_ , Carl."

"And?"

"Well… I mean, that's not a good thing, either."

A silence fell over the room, both of the boys staring up at the ceiling.

"Wanna make out?" Ron suddenly asked.

Carl's answer was him crawling out of his own bed to jump on Ron's in his.

Later that day, Denise came back to check on both of the boys. Both of them were in the same position as they were when she last checked on them, laying on their backs and looking up at the ceiling.

"Carl? Ron?" She got their attention, both boys looking over at her; glancing at each other then over at the woman, back and forth. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine. Just sleepy, is all." Carl answered honestly, not wanting to make anything worse. Ron nodded, feeling the same way.

"I'm just going to check your bites, okay? Is that okay?"

Either way, she went up to Carl first, making him turn so she could look at his neck easier. She gasped.

"It got worse! Oh, no. Oh, no." She felt an impending anxiety attack, but she did her best to stuff it down. Carl shot Ron a look, a blush traveling up his neck. Denise ran over to Ron to check on his bites, which had also gotten worse thanks to Carl's attention. "Oh, no, not you too!"

She ran out of the room only to come back with bandages and swabs with healing sprays and gels.

As she bandaged each of them, their wincing when she sprayed their necks wasn't an act. It actually hurt when the healing spray hit their skin, since they were both so rough with each other that their teeth probably did break the skin to a certain extent.

"There. Do you feel any better?" She asked them after she finished patching them up, in which they nodded in return.

She knew that something was fishy, but if they were actually bit, they couldn't be saved and the end was inevitable. But she liked to think that she could save both of them. But they would be fine, they weren't actually bit after all. It was surprising to both of the boys that it actually went this far and not even Denise realized that they were just two horny teenage boys that liked giving each other hickeys.

"Okay, good." She sighed. "I'll be working on other patients, so yell if you need anything."

Again, they were left alone.

"This is getting out of hand." Carol shook her head. "They can't really believe that these two boys are bitten, right?"

"I mean, I can see why they would be nervous, but… really?" Daryl laughed. "They're both teenage boys. No one understands that?"

"Just give it time, they'll understand soon."


	3. Chapter 3

Enid had heard from whispers around town that Carl and Ron had been bitten. She doubted that they were, since they never left the walls alone. And even if they went along with an adult, unlike Enid herself. And all of the supply runs have been done by the adults in the past few weeks.

Something was up, and she had to find out what it was.

Alone, she made her way to the infirmary. Denise was right inside, organizing supplies.

"Hello?" Denise called out. "Oh, it's only you." Denise seemed relieved by this fact. "Is anything wrong? Do you need any help?" She asked, looking over Enid to make sure she wasn't injured.

"No, no. I'm perfectly fine." Enid shook her head. "Is, uh, is Ron and Carl here?"

"They're in that room over there." Denise pointed to the room adjacent to them. "Do you want to see them?"

"Yeah, if that's alright."

"Uh, yeah. But not for long! I have to keep watch on them."

Enid nodded in response, turning to knock on the door. She waited a moment before opening it, finding both of the boys laying on their back in hospital beds.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Enid laughed. "There's no way you two were bitten."

"Well-" Carl stuttered.

"Hickeys?" Enid laughed harder, trying her best to be quiet about it. "Are those hickeys that they bandaged up on your neck?"

"Uh...well… yeah." Carl massaged the back of his neck with his hand.

"Oh my god. I can't believe this."

"How do you know?" Ron asked. "We told nobody we're...you know, together." He gave Carl a nervous look.

"Well, it isn't hard to tell. You two are attached at the hip." She continued to laugh. "And the hickeys? I'm surprised that no one else knows what they really are, where they came from."

Both boys just sat there in embarrassment, looking anywhere but Enid.

"You have to tell them. This is going too far."

"But-"

"Come on, it's pretty frickin' funny. But your parents are freaking out. This can only go so far."

"...She's right." Ron piped up, looking over to Carl. "This can only go so far."

"I-I mean-" Carl stuttered, trying to find the words to say. "...Yeah. Yeah, it has."

"So, who's going to tell?"

At that moment, the door to the infirmary opened and Rick, Michonne, and Jessie walked in.

"How's my baby?!" Jessie called, barging in the room without asking. She cupped Ron's face in her hands, making Ron blush and get flustered about the whole situation. Rick came in right behind, doing the same to Carl.

"How have they been doing?" Michonne asked Denise, startled by everyone coming in all of a sudden.

"Th-The bites have gotten darker." She didn't want to admit she didn't know what that meant. "So I bandaged them and cleaned the wounds. They're showing no signs of being bitten, so… I can't explain that."

Rick and Jessie gave her a confused look.

"But if they aren't bitten, then...what happened?"

A silence fell over the room.

Enid couldn't help but laugh.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"What's so funny? They could be hurt!" Jessie scolded the girl, holding Ron closer to her chest.

"I don't know how to say this." She kept on laughing. "Ron? Carl?"

"Uhm…" Carl instantly got beet red. "We...We weren't bitten."

Everyone looked at him all confused.

"It's just...We did these," Ron pointed to their bandaged necks, carefully peeling off of the annoying bandages. "We did these to ourselves. Like, to each other. Yeah." He himself was beet red, now, looking at anywhere but everyone's faces.

The room went quiet, the gears turning in the adults' heads.

"Oh." Jessie and Rick said at the same time.

"Then...you're fine?" Jessie asked, embarrassed.

"I'm fine!" Ron squeaked, getting up out of the bed. "Now can we go home?"

"Dad?" Carl poked at his dad's arm. Rick looked shocked. "Can we go home?"

Both parents nodded. Denise looked ashamed. Enid wouldn't stop laughing. Daryl and Carol were looking in from outside and couldn't stop laughing themselves. This whole mess was finally over but Carl and Ron had a feeling they would never live this down.


End file.
